Characterization of temperate-zone microalgae for a source of high-lipid biofuel

As the effects of greenhouse gas emissions from extensive use of fossil fuels intensify, as energy consumption increases globally, and as petroleum reserves are depleted and extraction becomes more environmentally hazardous, sources of innovative fuels and techniques for energy production need to be explored. Biodiesel can be produced through the conversion of plant- and animal-based fats by transesterification and is a significantly cleaner source of energy. While corn and soya can be used to produce biofuels, photosynthetic microalgae provide oils without competing with food stocks and can be grown on marginal lands as well as in wastewater. Issues in agriculture, such as use of synthetic fertilizers and crop sensitivity to climate change, illustrate the limitations of first-generation biofuels.  Using a high lipid-producing species will prove to be a viable solution to our energy needs.

To survive cold New England winters along the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, endemic microalgae adapt to store more lipids as an energy source when photosynthetic processes are reduced due to seasonal ice cover and limited sunlight. Extracted samples that produced the highest amount of lipids were sequenced; these were determined to be a strain of Scenedesmus obliquus. This sample has an oil content of 48.44%, a very high yield compared to those in the literature, demonstrating that the species strain would serve as a useful source of biofuel.